Last year the Chronicle published a story about the many issues caused by black bears. One of them made it into the headline. The question “Bear 290, Where are You?” was answered in July, when he broke into another house on Cream Hill. Which has brought another question front and center: What should be done about a bear population that is growing quickly and causes more and more damage in Connecticut?
The Chronicle interviewed Jenny Dickson, Director of the DEEP Wildlife Division, about Bear 290 and about the growing issues Connecticut is facing.
đź“˝: Juergen Kalwa
An Unbearable Conundrum
The world has become a giant buffet of euphemisms when it comes to naming simple things. Which is a problem when you talk about…problems. Take the surge of black bears. The popular term seems to be “sightings.” Like the one of an animal trotting through West Cornwall on Facebook a few weeks ago. One of the comments was, “What a cutie.”
The state adds its own euphemisms, calling break-ins to cars and homes, plundering of cornfields, and attacks on dogs or humans—fortunately still rare—”conflicts.” Another genteelism is “euthanizing,” which happened when officers of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) ended the career of ear-tagged Bear No. 290, the headliner of a Chronicle story last year. In July, he was identified on video as the intruder of a residence on Cream Hill. He broke in twice, according to homeowner Bill McClane, likely even a third time while he and his family slept. The serial offender was caught while making an attempt on Swaller Hill, across the Housatonic River in Sharon, and killed.
The fuzzy language around bears and their proclivities may have helped sugarcoat the public debate. But like the collection of suggestions by well-meaning DEEP folks (“store garbage in secure, airtight containers” or “supervise pets at all times when outside”), it hasn’t done anything to keep the population in check. Sightings of bear sows with cubs have nearly quadrupled since 2015. And a new law passed by the state in 2023 allowing residents to protect themselves and their property by force hasn’t really changed matters. Especially, since “any take of bears in self-defense or defense of others will be subject to law enforcement review,” warns the FAQ page on the DEEP website.
At the same time, strongly worded assessments, such as the one in the New York Times last year about the situation in Connecticut (“A State Plagued by Bear Encounters…”) have been rare. Incidents of owners whose homes have been ransacked calling the police on neighbors they accuse of feeding chipmunks and attracting bears, including recently in West Cornwall, are creeping up.
A place to effect change is at the state Capitol, which is what Democratic state Senate candidate Justin Potter, a Kent resident, promises to try if elected. Potter doesn’t mince words: “It is past time for Connecticut to implement a bear season. It is great to have bears here, but the population needs to be responsibly managed. Connecticut has about three times as many home entries and other conflicts as Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey, all of which have a bear season.”
First Selectman Gordon Ridgway supports stronger measures as well. “Bears are my number one concern right now,” he said in an interview. While he cannot make laws, he is “willing to go to Hartford to testify about it.”
—Juergen Kalwa
